J. Isner v. N. Mahut, 2010 Wimbledon
Duration: 10 hours Reuters

One of the longest singles matches in the history of the sport ended with Serbia's Novak Djokovic claiming victory over Spain's Rafael Nadal, in the finals of the 2012 Australian Open. The Serb won 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, after a marathon five hours and 53 minutes.

Nadal, a former World No. 1, thought the match was "never going to finish," according to a report in the Daily Mail.

The new champion had a similar opinion. He was quoted by ESPN UK as saying it was the "longest grand-slam final of all time. Just hearing that fact makes me cry. I am very proud to be a part of history, to be among the elite group of players who have won this trophy several times."

"I had a lot of chances to win it in four sets but he deserved to prolong it and then really both of us could have won the match, it could have gone either way," he added.

Nadal, who has now lost the last seven matches against Djokovic, refuses to be disheartened, saying these defeats would just make him work harder and harder.

This historic match between Djokovic and Nadal is the seventh longest in the history of the game.

Check out a list of the longest games ever played -

1. J. Isner v. N. Mahut, 2010 Wimbledon; Duration: 10 hours

2. F. Santoro v. A. Clement, 2004 French Open; Duration: 6 hours 33 minutes

3. J. McEnroe v. M. Wilander, 1982 Davis Cup; Duration: 6 hours 22 minutes

4. B. Becker v. J. McEnroe, 1987 Davis Cup; Duration: 6 hours 21 minutes

5. H. Skoff v. M. Wilander, 1989 Davis Cup; Duration: 6 hours 4 minutes

6. R. Stepanek v. I. Karlovic, 2009 Davis Cup; Duration: 5 hours 59 minutes

7. N. Djokovic v. R. Nadal, 2012 Australian Open; Duration: 5 hours 53 minutes

8. A. Clement v. M. Rosset, 2001 Davis Cup; Duration: 5 hours 46 minutes

9. M. Tahiri v. G. Muller, 2005 Davis Cup; Duration: 5 hours 45 minutes

10. A. Corretja v. H. Gumy, 1998 French Open; Duration: 5 hours 31 minutes

Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal